Reality Check
by Rabbitfoot
Summary: An alternate ending to the DP episode "Reality Trip". What would have happened if Danny couldn't erase everyone's minds with the reality gauntlet? Started three years ago, finished a year ago, now with some minor editing and a decided title.
1. Chapter 1

I had lighted on the ground and felt as if I might burst with feverish pride. All by myself, I had stopped Freakshow and saved reality from remaining warped forever. Wrapped cozily in my reveries, I barely noticed my dad sternly commanding me,

"Danny, get that thing off your arm."

The reality gauntlet was still perched on my arm, though I scarcely heard him through my fog of recollection.

"Danny? Remove that gauntlet this instant!"

The words finally shattered the glassiness of my mind, and all I could say was simply, "No, Dad, I can't."

"Danny!" A warning note had entered my Dad's tone. "Take it off! It's too dangerous to wear like an accessory!"

"No!" The panic that had risen in my voice startled even myself, and before I knew what was happening, my dad had seized my arm, and began yanking on the gauntlet. Clenching my fist in defense, I pulled back, the strain upon my arm throbbing with an almost tangy burning.

Finally, feeling a release in my dad's grip, I freed my captive arm and had swiveled around to make a dash in the other direction when Jazz unexpectedly snatched the gauntlet off my arm, raised it above her head, and slammed it on the ground, demolishing it into many metallic pieces. Her eyes blazed with a savage emotion foreign to my sister.

I was stunned. My only hope of erasing everyone's memory of my ghost half shattered like the gauntlet, and I knew with a sinking feeling in my core that my life was officially ruined, also like the gauntlet. I gave a sob, tearless and empty.

"Danny, what's wrong with you?!" Jazz knew the answer to her question, but her face betrayed triumph and contempt nonetheless. I didn't say a word.


	2. Chapter 2

I lay in my bed, forcing myself not to cry in despair. My face was already stiff from crying and I felt drained of emotion, but I made myself calm down.

Hearing a knock on my door, I glanced at my alarm clock, which said 2:02 am. Wondering who was bothering me at a time like this, I groaned, heaving myself from the comfort of my bed. Groping blindly for the door handle in the dark, I breathed out angrily, but before I could even reach the knob, the door swung open.

"What do you wa-" I chocked on the word.

Newscaster/Weatherman Lance Thunder stood in the doorway of my room, shuffling his feet awkwardly at my rude greeting. "What do you want?" I said again, my voice flat with exhaustion and blunt rage.

"Well," Lance replied softly, betraying his regret of coming, "Our - our crew was _hoping_ for a late-night interview with the ghost kid!" He finished his uncomfortable speech quickly and sharply.

I gritted my teeth harshly to stop myself from losing my temper from yelling at him and his companion, a scrawny, freckly man with a backwards baseball cap – someone who looked like he should work at the Nasty Burger.

"Late night? It's two in the morning!"

"A good time to talk to you without any interruption!"

"You snuck into my house!" I protested.

"The door was unlocked," the man holding the video camera said simply.

I cursed under my breath. "My dad can be so stupid sometimes!" Then: "Look, if you had wanted to interview me, you should have asked. I probably would've refused anyway, but at least that's politer than…than…what _you did_, barging in on me like that! My house isn't a zoo, so get out and stay out!" And they were gone in an instant, as if I had put a commanding spell on them.


	3. Chapter 3

As my family, blithely ignorant of my late-night visitors, ate breakfast the next morning, the doorbell rang. This time, however, I took no chances as to who it might be. I became intangible and stuffed myself uncomfortably in the cabinet, breaking a glass and splintering a china plate of my mom's when I rematerialized. _Mom's going to kill me for that,_ I thought. Straining my ears, I listened as my dad opened the door with a sharp click, then froze as I heard the voices:

"We're here for Daniel Fenton."

It was the Guys in White! I was nervous, and annoyed that they had called me Daniel.

"He's not here," my dad said, voice shaking but forceful. I was relieved, but remained wary.

"We'll see about that!" I heard the men pull something out of their heavy white coats like a machine and press a button that gave a high pitched beep like a miniature siren.

"It doesn't work anyway," Jazz stated bluntly, with the tone of voice that suggested she was rolling her eyes.

But she was wrong. It did work. I felt as if there were heat waves slashing through my skin like blades. Half-aware I was moaning, I involuntarily lost my balance and tumbled out of the cabinet.

"He's here! Seize him!" In my muffled head, the voices sounded badly tuned with static.

My parents somehow managed to stop them from attacking me, though. I was too unconsciously dizzy to tell what had happened.

"Danny? Are you okay?" It was my mom, sounding clearer than the voices had sounded before.

I was still crumpled on the hard, manually-heated tile floor. "Yeah," I grumbled, grimacing with vulnerable embarrassment. An array of thoughts came into my mind, one of which was, "If I can't protect myself, how will I be able to protect the town?'


	4. Chapter 4

"How could you not feel that?"

"I guess it was a ghost weapon or something…." Jazz trailed off quietly. I could tell she felt very awkward, and I almost felt sorry for her – mom and dad, too.

I ate the rest of my breakfast in the stark, uncomfortably obvious silence, then rose wordlessly from the table. The scene of my sister smashing the gauntlet played over and over again in my head as if to mock me. By the time I had reached the top of the stairs, I could bear my painfully stored anger no longer. I felt like I would implode with its contained pressure.

"I almost wish you _would _tear me apart molecule by molecule! I shouted, fleeing into my room, though feeling a heavy weight lift off my spirit and a great release inside me.

As soon as I stepped in, however, my faint good cheer faded. My ghost sense went off as if in scornful greeting, but it was too late to avoid the inevitable, unwanted conflict.

"Hello, ghost child." It was Skulker – the ghost hunter who had sworn to kill me - grinning like a skeleton.


	5. Chapter 5

I was paralyzed, not for the first time, by the dull realization that my life was going to be like this from now on, dodging ghosts and fangirls. The shock did not last, however, and I instinctively changed into Danny Phantom. "What do you want?" I snarled, although I knew it was fruitless to ask. "Come to give me a bad time?"

"Actually, yes," Skulker replied calmly. "You're far more perceptive than I remember you to be."

_My life is already ruined enough without you ruining it more!_ I wanted to scream at him. But I kept calm in an attempt to maturely disarm him by reflecting his relaxed expression back at him. However, he wasn't going to get away unscathed. I let all the pressure from my body flow into my hands, and released it into a blast of my ghost ray. The force of the ectoplasmic blast sent him hurtling out of my open window. He was gone.

Sighing, I lay down on my bed, observed my still-steaming hands, and changed back to my more vulnerable human self. My thoughts trailed off, and I soon forgot about the encounter with Skulker as if it was insignificant as what I had for breakfast.

_I hope I will never have to see Vlad's reaction to my horribly ruined life…but then…now that my parents know about _my_ ghost powers, I could tell them about Vlad's_! I smiled at the thought. The smile and happiness quickly evaporated like steam when I thought of another person who'd have been negatively affecting by the unveiling of my secret – Valerie! Suddenly, I had a strong impulse to talk to her and make things better between us by amending my lies to her. I changed to my Phantom form again and phased out through the window.

I flew invisibly through town until I reached Valerie's humble apartment, run-down and crumbling, and changed back into Danny Fenton. Heart fluttering with anticipation, I rang the doorbell.


	6. Chapter 6

I stood and waited breathlessly. When it seemed like no one would answer, Valerie's dad opened the door.

As I had expected, I wasn't greeted with a cordial "Hello there, how are you?" Instead, I was offered a "What are you doing here?"

I swallowed. "Uh, I'm here to… talk to Valerie?" My voice swerved up without meaning to.

"Valerie's not in the mood to talk." The solemn face of Valerie's dad looked dark when he added, "Especially not to you."

I was about to give up and run away down the hall when I heard Valerie's voice not too far away. "Is there someone here to see me?"  
"Good luck." Valerie's dad turned stiffly and walked back into the stuffy apartment.

Valerie looked just as grim as her father and twice as shocked when she saw me. "What do you want? Don't expect me to forgive you right away! I'm offended and disgusted that you lied to me, and even more so that you'd come slinking back to me like a dog to its master!" Valerie spat. She stomped back into her apartment and slammed the door with a flourish.

But I was desperate. I stuck my head through the door. She yelled, startled. "Don't do that, you freak!"

I sighed and retreated, knowing my battle was temporarily lost. With a heavy heart, I phased into the floor and down into the lobby -- but I was not alone. I gasped as I saw I was surrounded by guns, held by the Guys in White.

"The ghost boy is cornered! Seize him!"


	7. Chapter 7

"Don't you guys ever give up?"

The men pulled the trigger on their guns in unison. By the time the smoke had cleared from the shot, I was long gone, coughing while flying at full speed away from the apartment building. Only one ghost bullet had come close to striking me, having grazed my elbow.

Before I knew it, I was already back in my room. Stressed out and angry at the world, I decided to use my ghost powers to spy on my life-ruining ingrate of a sister. I phased into Jazz's room, and saw that she was writing in a diary of hers. I read the entry in a high, mocking girly voice, and nearly laughed out loud.

"I find that Danny is acting angry….Angry?" I sneered. "How about this?" I snatched up her pencil, spun her away on her chair -- locks of her red-orange hair whipped her face -- erased the word "Angry", and scrawled in its place, "like he never wants to speak to me again. And why would he? I just ruined his life! He has every right to be angry at me!" I said out loud.

"Danny!" Jazz sounded tearful. "Don't use your ghost powers to pick on me like that!"

"Jazz!" I mocked. Despite her obvious despair, I was in no mood to be nice to her. But recently my moods had had the tendency to change rapidly, and suddenly sleepy, I left her room, plopped down in my bed and falling asleep so fast I felt as if I had passed out.


	8. Chapter 8

I woke up when my cell phone started ringing. "SAM CALLING", the screen announced. Eagerly, I jabbed at the talk button.

"Hey, Danny," Sam said. I was content just to hear her voice. "How's life been?"

"Terrible!" I responded with sarcastic cheer. "How about you?"

"I'm grounded for the rest of the summer, and I'm not allowed to hang out with you any more, but otherwise…I'm okay, I guess…."

"Great!" I said in a fake tone of voice. "Have you heard from Tucker?"

"Same situation as me," Sam sighed dramatically. Then – "You're going to have a tough time in school in a week!"

"Yeah…" Sam was right, and I was nervous.

"You better…." she trailed off. "Oh, my parents are coming. If they catch me…well, bye!" Sam hung up, leaving me with dark thoughts about school.


	9. Chapter 9

Summer came and went uneventfully, as I was locked up in my room most of the time. There were three more incidents with the Guys in White, two aggravating ghost fights, and an embarrassing public incident that involved the media and a ghost weapon (the details of which I am not too keen to discuss), but otherwise my summer was surprisingly…almost normal.

On the first day of school, every eye was on me. I felt I was on a private island with Sam and Tucker. No one wanted to sit next to a "freak", I guess.

After thirty minutes of mind-numbing paper work, Lancer announced, "There are some new students here this year. Let's stop working and introduce ourselves."

For the first time, I noticed the students. One was a sad-looking boy that reminded me of a wilted flower. Then there was a snobbish-looking girl with dirty blond Goldilocks-type curls, and a small girl with black hair like straw, bulging green eyes, and braces. The latter looked very jittery.

I wasn't listening as Dash bragged about his "unique" football talent or when Tucker made one of his loud, geeky proclamations about technology ruling the world, so I was unprepared when it was my turn to introduce myself.

"Uh, I'm Danny, and…" I trailed off.

"I wish he would hurry up," Starr whispered to the girl with the blond curls.

"I…" All eyes were on me, and I couldn't think of anything to say.

"He's half-ghost," Dash said, trying to sound casual.

"He's…what?!" The girl talking to Starr looked as if she had been popped like a balloon. I felt myself flush.

"Want me to tell them about your summer?" Starr still treated me like a lesser in school, no matter how many times I'd saved her, or the town for that matter.

"No, thank you," I mumbled.

"He's…the ghost-boy?" The girl with the braces squeaked.

"Um. Yeah. Well…"

To my surprise, it was Mr. Lancer that cut in and saved me from answering. "Stop harping on Mr. Fenton," he snapped, shooting me a sympathetic glance. There were more no introductions after that.

Later that day, people were poking and shoving me endlessly, as if I would do a trick for them. "Get off me!" I gasped as Starr shoved me hard in the stomach.

"What did you say?" Starr sneered, pretending not to hear me.

"I mean I'm not a circus animal and I won't do tricks for you!" I grumbled.

"You're no fun," Starr mumbled, but then the dismissal bell rang and everyone left school in a rush, shoving me aside.

"Ouch," Tucker winced.


	10. Chapter 10

It was five o'clock in the evening. I had invited Tucker and Sam over for dinner (they had both sneaked out from their houses to see me), when there was a spontaneous downpour of rain that roared out of the sky, and the power went out. Fed up, I was mumbling to myself when there was a loud, dull knock on the front door. Without waiting for an answer the Guys in White burst through the door.

"I hate this," I heard one of them mumble. They were shivering under their white umbrellas.

"Daniel Fenton," one finally said sheepishly, "we need your help." I just stared at them blankly. "We need your help because the power line has shifted position in the storm, causing the power to go out."

"What business is that of mine?" I challenged.

The man sighed. "No one in town is crazy enough to volunteer to hold it in place during the storm, so we need you to do it."

"Are you crazy?!" I balked. "That rain will drench me out there! And I'm not your –or the town's – maid," I added angrily. "Just because I try to do good for the town doesn't mean that I'm at your beck-and-call!"

"Uh, you can become…become..."

"Intangible?" I nearly screamed at them. "What makes you think you can --!"

"Whatever," the man stroked his white tie contemplatively, not listening to me. "The point is, you can avoid the rain when other people can't."

"And why would I want to do that?" I growled. "We're perfectly fine surviving without power for an hour while the storm clears up."

"For one, it's a nice thing to do for the town." The man paused. "I thought you wanted to help out? We can always say you refused violently, and completely destroy your reputation. We can say anything about you and people will believe us. And if you don't do this little 'favor', we'll shoot you. Right here, and now. We have permission to do so because you're half-ghost, and therefore not classified as a human under the town's laws."

"Well then," I said, speechless. "So, uh, how long do you expect this monstrosity to last?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter," the man said slyly. "We'll be watching you, and if you stop for anything, you will be –"

"All right, all right!" I said quickly. "But when the storm is over, don't expect me to be Mr. Nice Danny Phantom anymore." I became Danny Phantom in rage, and everyone stared at me. "What're you looking at?!"

I flew after them outside, to the place where the power line had broken. I became intangible and, telling myself that payback was inevitable, held up the power line.

After a while, though, I was exhausted. Feeling my energy give way, I changed back into Danny Fenton. Instantly soaked through, I prepared to go home, but saw some of the Guys in White watching me with guns from inside a building near the broken power line. "I'm a human! What are you doing this for? I'm a human!!!" But they either couldn't hear me over the rain or they were choosing to ignore me.

Forty-five minutes later, I banged open the door to my house, sopping wet. "I hope you enjoyed your power," I spat venomously at my family, then charged up to my room, where I grabbed a towel and jumped into my bed, which was a stupid thing to do because it was immediately too wet to sleep in. Crying with more rage and exhaustion than sadness, I fell asleep almost at once.


	11. Chapter 11

"Thanks for the soup," I mumbled, stuffed up, to my soft-faced mother. Being outside in heavy rain for an hour had taken its toll, and I didn't feel my best.

"I'm sorry, Danny, we really should have stopped them…"

"Yes, you should have!" I snapped. "But it's not like you'd do anything to help your halfa _freak_ of a son!" My mom's brow furrowed and knotted up. I felt bad for yelling, but before I could apologize, she left. Jazz materialized in her place almost immediately to my immense displeasure.

"Danny, let me speak," she said abruptly before I could indignantly begin to protest. "Thank you. Now, as I was saying, this is important, and it might sound crazy, but – I didn't smash the gauntlet."  
"Wha-at?!" I yelped. "But I saw --!"

"Danny!" she intervened sternly. "I….I think I might have been overshadowed. By a ghost. I don't remember anything around the time where I "smashed the gauntlet" and of course, I wouldn't have done that to you! Who do you think I am?"

I forgot to be angry. "Really? No, no, I guess you wouldn't have done that…why would I not even consider the possibility of…? Well, sorry for being so, umm…"

"Whatever," she said dryly.

But I didn't hear her. I was already plotting what I must do next. The most important thing to do was to talk to Clockwork and see if I could relive the time in history when the gauntlet was smashed, and make sure to prevent it from happening.

After deciding on my next plan of action, and drowsily noticing that Jazz had left, I nodded off to sleep once again.


	12. Chapter 12

I dreamed I was flying through Amity Park, making my daily rounds of inspecting the town for ghosts. Looking around briefly, I shielded my eyes against the glare of the sun.

Something whizzed past my head, and I swiveled around to see a ghost ray that had barely missed me. When I squinted into the park, I could make out six figures with guns, and a seventh with a bulky pair of Fenton Ghost Gauntlets on her hands. But when I alighted down to attack my pursuers, they all pulled the triggers on their guns at once, and I yelped as I felt the agonizing pelting of bullets on my back.

It was all a twisted, jumbled blur of action after that, but eventually, I found myself pinned down by the girl with the Ghost Gauntlets. As I futilely struggled and kicked, something was shoved in my face. A piece of paper? "What do you want?"

A high-pitched boy's voice yelled "Sign it!" He dropped a pen on my chest. "Sign it!"

The rest of the kids took up the chant. "Sign it! Sign it! Sign it! Sign it! Sign -- !"


	13. Chapter 13

I woke up abruptly, but the moment I remembered my dream, hot embarrassment enfolded my face. Shrugging it off, I changed into Danny Phantom and phased into the basement, the tingling feeling of intangibility making me shudder.

Slipping off my glove, I pressed my thumb against the panel that opened the Fenton Ghost Portal. An automated voice said flatly, "Thumbprint recognized. Portal will open in three…two…one…"

I stepped into the swirling greenness of the Ghost Zone. As always, an uncalled-for feeling of wariness and spookiness crept over my soul until I thought I might strike out at someone with the intensity of it.

Unsure and uncharacteristically depressed, I noticed listlessly and hesitantly that Clockwork's tower built out of gears loomed ahead me like Vlad's face, ready to take me down. Knowing that my desperate chance of convincing Clockwork to cheat time was slim, I opened the heavy metal doors and stepped into the building's brown darkness, hearing the menacing echo behind me.

"Danny," an old voice creaked. "I knew you would come." And then Clockwork emerged as an old man, although he had the power to appear any age as the master of time.

"I'm sure you did," I sighed impatiently. "But I need to –"

"You need me to turn back time to change the course of your life," the now young Clockwork interrupted perceptively, "and I won't. I'm not your personal slave and I've meddled enough with your life, Danny. I can't do it anymore – even if you _are_ my responsibility… I'm sorry." Was that pity or pain in his voice? Was it both? "Danny, you're like a son to me, but I can't make any more exceptions for you. I'm sorry. Truly. I'll look into helping you, though - as long as it's legal." He winked. "Expect to hear from me soon."

Feeling choked up, I nodded. "Than-thank you." It meant a lot to me to be respected by this wise figure. I left.


	14. Chapter 14

I flew through the town, fully equipped with a Fenton Thermos and a Specter Deflector (of course, it wasn't on me, or I would've been shocked). The sun was setting over the west part of the town, casting distorted shadows over Fenton Works and the surrounding buildings. Usually, I wouldn't go out this early, but I wanted to be as efficient as possible with my ghost hunting.

Eventually, when I was convinced my ghost-sense wasn't going to go off for a while, I let myself glide through the air, relaxed and carefree. The sky had darkened to a deep indigo, and for once, I felt like there was some hope in my life.

I closed my eyes and made myself intangible so I wouldn't crash into anything, and put my arms out, buffeting the wind. _Life is good!_ I couldn't help thinking childishly.

As if I had been caught doing some horrible act, I suddenly felt an iron grip on my ankle. "Hey, what the…!" The grip released, and in a twist of action, I felt myself thrown out of the sky and slam into the ground painfully. _Road repairs,_ I thought hazily, fingering the crumbled street.

Then I looked up at my attacker, first at the bright gleam of his fangs, then at his black gloves that had thrown me, and at his face…

"Vlad!!!" I yelped. "What are you doing here…! I thought you lived in Colorado…!' Then I regained my senses. "Did you come here to gloat at me?"

"No, my dear boy, I'll tell you if you just change back for me," Vlad said with fake charm, stomping his black boot on my chest. "Change back into Danny Fenton and we can have a nice little talk, hmm?"

"What? Why?! You're trying to disarm me! I'm not falling for it!"

"No, no, it's not that," Vlad said, and he changed into his human form. "A nice little chat between humans, shall we?"

I changed back into Danny Fenton. "Sure…um, I guess. Now seriously, what do you want?"

He just grinned at me.

"Wait, wait, you - !" I changed into Danny Phantom just as he changed into his Plasmius form. "Now come back, you…!" But he didn't listen to me -- he just flew off arrogantly and knowingly.

"_Now_ what are you doing!" I tried to distract him from leaving. "Now that the whole world knows my secret, I can tell my parents about _you_! What'll my _mom_ think?!"

I saw him flinch in midair, but he still went off.

"Coward! Arrgh! All I wanted to do was relax!" I was steaming. "Rrgh, I'm going to find out what you're up to!" I called after him, but he was gone.


	15. Chapter 15

"Mom? I'm home!" It was already bright out, and I had stayed out all night to catch ghosts, jumpy with my suspicious encounter with Vlad. But there was no sign of trouble – other than my arch enemy's sudden and brief appearance -- and I had given up.

"You left?" My mom rounded the corner of the house, looking disheveled. "Sorry, I didn't notice. I was sleeping, which is the kind of thing people usually _do_ at night."

"That's okay…" Suddenly, I didn't want to confront her with the news about Vlad, she didn't look like she was in any mood to hear about it. But I had to tell her – the only reason Vlad had seemed nonchalant about it was because he thought I was bluffing. I had to prove him wrong! "There's something I have to tell you. It's about Vlad."

She glared at me expectantly, her brow furrowing.

I became over-consciously aware of the loud ticking of the kitchen clock;; the dull rumbling of the washing machine in the other room. "He's…he's…" I started slurring. "Well, he's, like me. I mean, half…ghost. Like…I am." Why was I so stupid to tell her this? Vlad would kill me!

My mother gasped in dismay and staggered slightly. The ticking of the clock was ever-more prominent. When she finally regained her voice, she squeaked, "I…I always knew he was an old creep! But…not like this! I'm going to go confront that maniac _right now_!" And she stomped out, slamming the door behind her.

I watched her go with a feeling of unease. Then –

"Danny."

I took a sharp intake of breath and jumped skittishly, crashing into the lamp by the couch. The voice behind me chuckled, and the speaker floated over to me, revealing himself to be Clockwork. And he was holding something in his hands…the reality gauntlet? It was all in one piece, the four gems glittering enticingly!

Clockwork then began to speak. "In the Realm of Time, where I live, the Reality Gauntlet was manufactured by me. My powers at the time only included my ability to stop and start time, so I thought that the Gauntlet would give me some other offensive powers I could use.

"But the Gauntlet was coveted by many, and it was eventually stolen. I chased after the thief, who wreaked havoc with the Gauntlet's power. When I finally re-obtained the weapon, I was humbled by the destructive power it possessed, smashing it and burying the pieces while throwing the almost impossible-to-destroy gems into a deep pond.

"Many decades later, however, three of the four gems were found, as was the gauntlet, which was pieced back together and placed in a museum. But the trouble truly began again when Freakshow's father found the fourth gem, the gem that powers the gauntlet, on a fishing trip, and gave it to his son, not knowing the power it had.

"I recently sent some Observers to the wasteland where you fought Freakshow. The remnants of the broken glove were beyond repair, but the Observers _did _manage to salvage the Reality gems. I made another temporary case for them to fit you. However, it is very flimsy, and once you are done using it, I want you to destroy it. Do you promise?"

He handed me the lightweight case. It felt cool and firm in my grip. "Um, I think I should focus on trying to find some way to smash the gems instead…even if they are very strong," I said tentatively. "That way, no one could ever activate them again in another case."

Regret flickered across Clockwork's face, but he finally said, "Yes, you can try. That would be best. Yes, and I really must be going – goodbye Daniel."

Clockwork disappeared. I slipped the gauntlet on my skinny arm and flexed my fingers. I then walked over silently to the coffee table, picked up the gems, and placed them in their specifically-shaped holes in the case. Subtly, they began to glow.

A cold mist floated out of my mouth, similar to seeing my breath on a chilly winter day. Which could only mean one thing – there was a ghost nearby.

"Well, well," the familiar sneer drawled. "Clockwork really has taken a fancy to you, hasn't he?"

It was Vlad.


	16. Chapter 16

I swiveled around just in time to see a flash of light that made my eyes burn, and then I was blasted painfully into the wall by one of Vlad's ghost rays. The gauntlet slipped off my arm and clattered to the floor.

As I struggled to regain my bearings and blink the swirled vision out of my eyes, I spotted Vlad snatch up the still-pulsing Reality Gauntlet from off the floor and cram his arm into it, muttering to himself, "Blast it all, it's too small!"

"Put that down or I'll… I"ll…" I squeaked, realizing too late that I sounded vaguely like a chipmunk.

In response, he pointed the gauntlet at the drapes, which sprang into life and wrapped around me like a cocoon, crushing my limbs. "Going ghost!" I muttered pointlessly. By the time I had broken free, Vlad was gone.

But I wasn't going to give up. I pushed off the floor, phased through the ceiling – which still made my skin crawl – and found myself above my house. When I peered closer into the cloudy but bright sky, I saw the speck that was Vlad disappearing into the distance.

Desperate, I sped up my flying until I was at full speed, which felt reckless even for my superhuman abilities. It was not long before I felt nauseous, but I wasn't stupid enough to close my eyes like I had last night.

It seemed like a new hour before I caught up to Vlad. He was flying as fast as he could, too, which was tiresome. His cape was rippling out behind him, making him an easy target. Letting my ghost energy flow into my hands, I shot an ectoplasmic energy beam at Vlad, which left my hand smarting, and I saw him drop the gauntlet in surprise.

Stomach lurching with the drop, I plunged downward, snatching the gauntlet in my gloved hands about halfway to the ground, and nearly threw up with discombobulation. When I flew back up, the city was still lurching in my vision.

Blinking rapidly, I managed to see where I was. From my high view of the city, I could see the tallest smudge that was FentonWorks. Still vaguely sick, I alighted down on the pebbly roof of an apartment building, the wind buffeting my face and making my eyes tear up.

I heard the roar of traffic and skidding of tires below me, while a crow called eerily overhead. Everything seemed to halt for a moment, and I forgot what I was doing.

Without warning, a hard shove in my back alerted me to my surroundings, and the Reality Gauntlet was yanked out of my grasp.

"Don't let your guard down, ever!" It was Vlad – he had come back. I should've known he would.

"If you don't give it back, I'm going to force it from you!" I bluffed.

Vlad laughed, fingering the gauntlet. "You? Take it from _me_? I don't think so," Vlad sneered, raising his hand.

I only had a moment to react when he shot a bright purple ectoplasmic ray at me. With a burst of energy, I put up a green ghostly shield in front of me. However, it couldn't hold up to Vlad's attack, and shattered with an earsplitting crack when Vlad's ray hit it. And I was standing directly behind it….


	17. Chapter 17

I was flying through the night, the shadows of evening making my green eyes glow even more unnaturally. Tired from a long night of patrols, I lighted down in the park and leaned against the cool, dew-soaked bark of a tree. The water from the branches was knocked off, splashing onto my head and turning my white hair a dark gray. As I let myself relax to the chirping of crickets, I heard a voice cut through the peace.

"Freeze, Phantom!"

Whoever it was, I was too foggy-headed to recognize the speaker. Instead, I shot a well-aimed ice blast through the trees, a power that I had developed over the summer in another adventure.

"Oh, you're gonna be the only one freezing here!" I yelled in response.

There was a startled cry, and the beam of a flashlight that had been pointed at my face a moment before clattered to the ground. I rushed towards where my freeze-ray had struck, and gave a gargled gasp.

It was Valerie, and she was frozen solid. "No - !" I wheezed, and tried to run from the scene, only to be tripped by a rock. I fell on my knees and face, splattering my face with mud. "Please," I sobbed. "I didn't mean to --!"


	18. Chapter 18

My eyes flew open to meet a light, harsh and metallic. "I was asleep? No, unconscious," I murmured to myself. "It's all coming back to me now – Vlad. Vlad!! I must be in his lab!" As my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see that I was pinned up against a wall by a ghostproof containing device. Both my arms and legs were immobilized and trapped.

Through my peripheral vision, I saw Vlad enter his lab, chuckling in a conniving manner. "What – what are you planning to do?" I sighed, feeling helpless and ashamed.

Vlad laughed. "Nothing at all, my boy. I can get rid of you now – you're obsolete to me."

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"Well, my boy, I've already forced you to change back into your human form," Vlad sneered. "That step was covered the other night. You see, I needed a DNA sample from you mid-morph in order to stabilize a clone of mine. I will then be able to acquire the perfect half-ghost son, and I will dispose of you for good." He sighed. "I had tried to get Vortex to create a disastrous storm so that the Guys in White could legally force you to help. I was betting on them getting your DNA when you changed back into Danny Fenton, exhausted, when you were out there in the rain, but of course, they were too concerned about a "cleanliness breach" in the mud, and thus failed me."

"Wait, wait, back up," I said, my head spinning. "You're cloning me? And you needed me to go ghost so you could stabilize your clone? And that whole rainstorm was just a plot to get me?"

"You sure catch on fast, little badger," Vlad mocked. "Anyway, I had bugged the equipment I gave Valerie so that I could watch you. I've been gathering data about you…" He strolled over to a glass case and flipped on the light switch.

I gasped. In the case…was me! Danny Phantom, a perfect likeness, down to every last hair follicle.

"Once I put your DNA into this clone, it will be stabilized," Vlad said. "Although however much it might look like you and function like you, it will serve _me_."

I gasped, still unable to process it. Finally, I said. "It doesn't matter! My mother will be able to tell the difference, and when she finds out that you 'disposed of me', she'll…she'll hate you! You bitter old man!" The foolish words had come out before I had meant them to.

Vlad's face twisted in anger, and he pressed a button on a remote. At once, a horrible, painful sensation shot through my limbs, and I screamed.

"Say something stupid like that again, and you'll really get it!" Vlad snarled, turning off the switch. "You're trapped, and I can hurt you. Understand?"

I nodded weakly, my hair flopping in my face. Every muscle felt sore.

He laughed cruelly. "You can't do anything. Don't even try." When he turned his back on me, I strained to break free from the cuffs that held my arms, but to no avail. I even tried to freeze them first, but an electric shock zapped me painfully when I tried to use my ghost powers.

Weakened, I watched helplessly as he took out a small beaker full of glowing green energy, and poured it into a slot on the side of the glass case. "You will be the only witness to my greatest scientific work ever! Isn't that right, Maddie Program?"

A transparent version of my mom materialized next to Vlad. "Yes, sweetestheart!"

"I'm officially sick," I muttered.

But the glass case was glowing now, and I shuddered as the vile clone's eyes flew open.

It was alive.


	19. Chapter 19

I shuddered and looked away, horrified. But because I was immobilized, I couldn't plug my ears, and I had to listen as the evil thing spoke to its father.

"Father, thank you for stabilizing me." I was stupefied – it sounded exactly like me! I looked back at the scene to see the clone bowing to Vlad, the latter of which looked very triumphant.

"Oh, no need to thank me," Vlad said casually. "I should be thanking you, my boy, for serving me." He laughed. "You see," Vlad said, and I flinched a little as he turned back to me, "This clone is far stronger than you. It – he – has both your powers _and_ some of mine. You're no match for it!"

"Then it must be stronger than you, too, then!" I said. "What'll happen if it revolts?"

This time, it was the clone that laughed, revealing sharp teeth like Vlad's. "Why would I ever want to do that? I serve Vlad loyally! Or are you perhaps wishing, in your childish way, that I'll join _you_ instead?" He scoffed. "There's no chance of that!"

Vlad spoke again, "It's time to get rid of the spare, my son," he said, pressing a button on the side of the glass case where I was imprisoned. Instantly, I felt a great release in both my arms and legs, and I dropped to the ground harshly. But before I could escape, Vlad struck me with something painful, and I yelled as electric currents flowed through me. As I tried to ghost, I realized something was wrong --- I couldn't! Vlad had destabilized my powers!  
With the release of the case, the glass shattered inwardly, showering me with bits of sharp glass. I squeezed my eyes shut, and could feel the glass scraping against my bare skin. Shaking slightly, I leapt away, my feet crunching on the glass.

"Good luck trying to escape," Vlad taunted. "There's a ghost shield _and_ a human shield around my mansion, and even if you could leave, you won't be able to use your ghost powers for two hours."

I wasn't listening. I threw open the door of the lab, and it slammed against the opposite wall with a loud crashing sound, then I darted out, hoping that I could find where Vlad kept the activation controls for the shield.

"Go after him!" I heard Vlad bark behind me, as I scaled the stairs in a flurry with all the energy I had left. My legs were pumping madly, and I was winding down quickly, but I made it to the top. Seeing a flat hall ahead of me, I leapt forward, but was stopped by a loud explosion, and an agonizing stab of pain in my back. Tripping and landing hard, I looked behind me groggily to see the clone, pursuing me in his Phantom form.

"Hey, that's not fair!" I said, my voice cracking with the effort.

In response, he nonchalantly lifted his hand and blasted me aside. I felt bruised and battered as I slammed into the opposite wall.

"Give up," the thing hissed. "Give up like a good little boy." And suddenly his face was nearly touching mine, with a serious, almost pouting expression. With his – my – its gloved hand, it picked up my head, fingering my chin. I was too sore to move, so I could only squint at the bright green intensity coming from its eyes – my eyes. No, _not_ my eyes – my eyes were kind and concerned, while this thing...sent shivers down my spine! I couldn't find a better description for it. I winced away from its touch.

"Aww, is poor wittle Danny weak?" the clone mocked. "Weak wittle wooooser," he crooned, crystallizing the bottom of my chin with ice particles. "Can't even defend himself from…himself!" He cackled. "No, no, not himself, I'm _much_ more powerful than _you_. You had all these _lovely_ ghost powers but weren't _nearly_ strong enough to use them properly!"

Wincing with pain, I swung my sneaker around raggedly, and socked the reckless clone in the face. As he cried out, I staggered to my feet, and ran towards the door to outside, clutching my waist. I extended my arm as far as it would go, and sharp needles of pain shot through it, but I managed to grasp the door handle and open it so that I could rush outside.

The cool breeze made me shudder violently, which in turn made me prickle with pain. Lurching crookedly forward, I tried to run, even though I knew there was a ghost shield there that prevented me from truly leaving. As I advanced, I knew I was too weak to make it anymore – and as the thought crossed my mind, I tripped and collapsed on the ground, face first.

I felt another flaming spasm in my back, and I cried out, letting myself go limp on the ground. Right before I blacked out, I could hear the clone sigh indifferently. "I suppose it's not right to blast a fellow while he's down," he sneered mockingly.

I let my body go limp and give up, and felt my consciousness spiral away –


	20. Chapter 20

It seemed like only a moment before I was trying to struggle to my feet again. My limbs felt stiff and fake, and every time I stood up, I was only standing for a moment before I collapsed again. "This is so embarrassing!" I muttered to myself. "That clone completely beat me up!"

"Danny? Is that you?!"

A shocked but familiar voice came to my ears, and I replied, equally as shocked, "Valerie? What are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to pick something up for Mr. Masters," Valerie said, her voice shaking. "But you -- ! You can't be real!"

I glared back at her. "Of course I'm real! Whatever do you mean?"

"You – at the town – you're at the town –" she gasped. "Mr. Masters sent me here to get his ghost-hunting gear to fight you! You're terrorizing the town!"

"Great, now he's blackening my profile, too?" I groaned. To Valerie, I said, "That's not me back in Amity Park. It's a clone. Now take me to the town so I can fix this mess!"

Valerie raised an eyebrow at me. "In that condition, you couldn't fix a bowl of cereal."

"Very funny."

"Besides, how can I trust you?"

I was impatient. "How can you trust that – that – fake?" I spluttered indignantly.

"Fine." Valerie activated her hovering board. "Hop on, and I'll take you there." Then she took a second glance, and pulled me up instead. Wobbling, I held on to her shoulders.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Valerie sighed. "Helping the enemy."

"You consider me the _enemy_? Still? After all that?"

Valerie sighed. "I don't know who to consider an enemy any more…"

I didn't know what to say to that, so I remained silent. We rode in stifling silence for nearly an hour. Twice I nearly fell, but caught myself just in time – or, rather, I was caught by Valerie.

"Watch it!" She said gruffly the second time.

I bit back a sharp retort – she _was_ helping me, after all. "I can see the city; we'll be there pretty soon. You can just drop me off there."

"Just drop you off? Are you sure?" Valerie looked a little concerned. "You're weak, and the 'clone' is down there."

I summoned my strength and morphed into my ghost form. "I'll be all right."

Valerie exhaled. "Fine, but I'll stay there if you need help."

When we got to the City Hall, everything was either a wreck or in flames – or both. My clone was the cause of it all, and by the looks of it, he wasn't very regretful. "Don't forget that this is how I truly am!" He yelled smugly. "I always _did_ hate this town! And all of you!" Without warning, he snapped his head around to face me, and I saw his eyes flash red for a moment.

Unfortunately for him, the entire town followed his gaze, and glanced from me to him and back again with disbelieving eyes.

"I knew something was up!" I heard Sam say, and turned my head to see her clenching her fists angrily. "That's not Danny!" she pointed at Clone Danny.

My double flew over to Sam with lightning speed. "No more of this nonsense," he snarled, and before I could intervene she was smashed in the chest by a ridiculously powerful plasma blast.

"SAM!" I screamed, jumping down from Valerie's hover board. I landed softly on the ground (I _was_ in ghost form, after all, which meant I was stronger and somewhat refreshed), and ran up to Sam. She was unconscious, and her body seemed to be steaming from the ghost ray. I turned around to face my evil clone to find him inspecting his nails innocently.

Although I hadn't noticed it before, his hair was slicked back in a way that made him look like a stereotypical rich brat. His gloves and boots were both red, as was the logo on his chest – unlike mine, which were white. I wondered if that had been that way before, and I had just been too weak to notice it.

"Get out of this town," Clone Danny said menacingly, shooting a fast blast of ice at me. I dove out of the way, but the tip of the ice ray caught my foot, and my leg froze instantly. As I strained painfully to break free, I felt a shooting pain in my chest, and I was flung backwards at such a great force that the ice around my leg shattered.

Frustrated at how slow I was compared to him, I tried a different tactic and multiplied into four different duplicates of myself. Imagine my surprise when Clone Danny turned into eight! Immediately, I felt like was being pummeled from a hundred different directions. Dazed and taken aback, I staggered backwards and merged into one.

I had only one more trick up my sleeve now – the Ghostly Wail. I drew in a breath, praying that the clone hadn't received this power. I let out my wail in an exhale that made everyone in the growing crowd cringe and plug their ears.

Unfortunately, I watched in dismay as Clone Danny also sucked in a breath, and let out a Ghostly Wail that must have been twice the power of mine. I felt my feet slip off of the ground, and as much as I tried to fight back, I was blown backwards into the crowd of people, knocking them over like bowling pins.

By this time, I was stunned, and feeling a little bit helpless. Before I surrendered, I heard Tucker yell, "Danny! Use the thermos!"

Grateful, I swooped down and plucked the Fenton Thermos from Tucker's hands, wrenched off the lid, and pointed it at Clone Danny.

In a blur of motion, I felt as he yanked the thermos forcefully from my hands. In awestruck horror, I watched as my clone crunched it into a useless chunk of metal with only one hand. Then he turned to me, his red eyes sparkling, and smiled smugly at me.

Only one thing was certain – I didn't stand a grain of a chance.

And to think that a day ago I was worried about turning back time!


	21. Chapter 21

Clone Danny moved towards me, his fist raised. I took a staggering step backwards, realizing with a jolt that I had turned back into human form without realizing it. I put up my hands to shield my face, and waited for the blow.

But it never came. Someone fell to the ground, but it wasn't me – it was my clone. He crumpled onto the ground from a shot in his back that seemed to come out of nowhere. Blinking, I unshielded my face and my look of amazement quickly turned into one of disgust.

Vlad had appeared – in human form – and had taken Clone Danny by surprise. Or, at least, that's the way it was staged. I was sure that Vlad had put the whole thing together so that I was the weak laughingstock of the town and he was the hero. Instantly I felt a little foolish for even wasting my time fighting the clone, as it had been a setup anyway. I was still disturbed, though, that even though I had given it my all, I hadn't even put a scratch on the other Danny. Was I really that weak?

I was distracted from my thoughts when I saw my dad put his arm around Vlad and exclaimed, "Great job, V-man! That was brilliant!"

I couldn't help noticing my mom glance up at Vlad angrily, as if she was rethinking what I had told her earlier. Clearly she hadn't broken the news to my dad.

"It wasn't brilliant!" I found myself shouting. "It was a setup! Vlad's the one who made the clone of me in the first place!_ And_ he's half ghost!"

Utter silence.

It took a moment for this piece of news to sink in, but when it did, the whole crowd erupted in frantic conversation.

Vlad slowly turned to look at me, malice sparkling in his eyes. "Foolish boy. You must know that the clone and I, versus you, are by far a stronger pair."

And he morphed into his ghost form.

The crowd seemed to scream simultaneously, and I heard my dad yell. But I was, once again, preoccupied. Anger coursing through me, I screamed, "Going _ghost_!!!" and flung myself at the traitor.

Clone Danny got up from the ground, clearly not hurt at all. He, too, became a ghost (but not before I noticed that his human form was wearing a formal suit), and attacked me. But I was so crazed and frustrated that I felt twice as strong as I had before. With a snarl, I pulled back my fist and punched Clone Danny in the face.

He looked only remotely surprised as he recovered from the shock, and eyed me with boredom. As I turned to strike him again, I felt Vlad grab me and close his arm tightly around my throat.

I was thrown into a state of total panic. I struggled, but Vlad's ghost form was stronger than mine. Choking as I tried to cry out, I felt my head swimming, and my heart beating frantically. When I tried to take a breath in, I found I could not. I felt like I was drowning, and it sent real alarm coursing through me. Vlad really meant to kill me!

Suddenly, I felt a release in his grip, and I gulped for air. I realized that someone had shot at him, and I turned around to see who my savior was.

"Valerie…" I whispered.

"You betrayed me!" She yelled, and I jumped as I saw her looking at Vlad with a horrible, twisted expression.

"I guess I betrayed everyone," Vlad said, smiling uncaringly, raising his hand to shoot a plasma blast at Valerie.

Or _was_ it aimed at Valerie? Because those words were the last thing I remember hearing before I blacked out...


	22. Chapter 22

The first thing I saw when I woke up at my house was Sam and Jazz peering over me worriedly. Well, I guess that meant they knew it was really me, then.

"Danny!" Jazz said worriedly. "Do you feel all right?"

"Why shouldn't I?" I said gruffly, although I _did _feel a little stiff.

"Well…" Jazz said uncomfortably. "Er… just remember that… at least it was a character-building experience. I mean, it'll make you stronger in the end…"

I wasn't fooled. "Jazz, just how badly was I beaten?"

"Pretty badly." This time it was Sam who answered. "You, er… after you passed out…"

"Yes?" I said impatiently.

"You changed back into human form. And…that evil clone – well you still have some explaining to do about that – "

"Sam!" I huffed.

"Sorry. Well…he completely beat you up."

"While I was _unconscious_?!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah. We tried to stop him…believe me, we did…. But he wouldn't stop until Vlad called him off you…like a master and his dog…"

"I'm fine!" I said exasperatedly, and jumped out of the bed. Instantly, the pain of landing on the floor – which shouldn't have been that painful – shot through me, and I crumpled to the ground. "Okay, maybe I'm not fine!" I mumbled. "What happened?"

"Well…why don't you look for yourself?"

I got out of the bed, more carefully this time, and staggered to the mirror. All my limbs had been bandaged except for one of my arms, which was in a sling. There was also an angry-looking gash down my cheek.

"Well, that answers my question." I muttered, straining as I climbed back into bed. My parents had fixed up FentonWorks like a hospital again -- just like they had when Sam, Tucker, and Vlad had ecto-acne – and now I knew why.

Jazz looked at me apologetically. "It'll take a while for you to recover. In the meantime – " she was interrupted when the door opened and my parents entered. My dad had seemed peaked and listless since the revelation about Vlad.

"You have some visitors," my dad said hesitantly, and what seemed like my entire class streamed in through the door.

"Hey, dude! How're ya feeling?" Tucker sat down on the side of the bed, grinning. "Hopefully not as bad as you _look_, that's for sure!"

I tried to return his smile as best as I could.

The rest of my classmates fretted over me, one at a time. Paulina said she hoped I'd recover soon; Dash said he'd help me with whatever I needed help with; even Starr apologized for being an ingrate. After a while, my overprotective sister shooed them all out except for Sam and Tucker. Privately, I explained the sudden appearance of Clone Danny, then they left and I went back to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

I stayed in bed a week to recover from the humiliating beating I had received from my clone. The ugly gash down my face hadn't healed completely, but other than that I was feeling a lot better.

Just like when I had defeated Youngblood, I knew I would need to recruit a lot of people in order to stop my clone – and Vlad – from wreaking havoc on the town. Also like when I had defeated Youngblood, I turned to the only sure group of followers Danny Phantom had – my classmates.

I stuck my head through the wall in the middle of some droning English class, and said in a loud voice, "Sorry to interrupt, but I need your help."

Mr. Lancer jumped about a foot in the air. Sam and Tucker didn't look quite as surprised, since I had warned them beforehand of what was going to be my intruding recruitment mission. "Daniel, I'm teaching," Mr. Lancer said shakily, trying to sound unperturbed but obviously failing.

I shook my head. "This is more important than English. Trust me."

My former teacher raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing.

I jumped through the wall the rest of the way, and stood in front of my gaping classmates. "Err, hello."

"Feeling better?" Dash inquired.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," I said impatiently. "But I didn't come to talk about _me._ I need your help.

"As you saw several days ago," I continued, "Vlad Plasmius cloned me. Why? I don't know why. He's a nutcase. But he's apparently a smart nutcase, because that clone – well, you saw it! – must be, I dunno, three times as strong as me, definitely more evil, and… I can't stop him myself."

"Have you tried _everything?_" somebody asked worriedly.

I sighed. "Do you want me to spell it out for you? I'm practically powerless!"

"We'll help you!" Dash proclaimed, standing up. "What do you need us to do?"

Mr. Lancer gave an annoyed grunt. "It's the middle of a school day here…" Seeing all the hopeful faces, he mumbled, "I guess I'll let you out early. But I'll have to go an extra day into the summer…."

No one was listening.

"I need help breaking into Vlad's mansion in Colorado. He has something there…that…er…I think I can use to defeat the clone. Something he stole from me. But I need to steal it back myself. I need you guys to serve as a distraction while I look for it." I was talking about the Reality Gauntlet. In all the commotion, I had almost forgotten about, but once I realized it would be a key weapon in defeating Clone Danny, it had been the only thing on my mind while I lay in bed for a week.

"Consider it done." I was surprised to find that it was Valerie who made this statement.

I smiled back at her. "Thanks."


	24. Chapter 24

"Do you remember how to get to Vlad's mansion?"

"Dude, I got it covered. Don't sweat it."

I had all of my classmates, and Jazz – who had agreed to help me -- crammed inside the Specter Speeder, which was uncomfortable but it served its purpose. Tucker was driving, which was always somewhat of a hazard; I wasn't any better, though, so I had no right to complain.

We were flying for about thirty minutes before the fast-moving machine suddenly came to a lurching halt. Everyone except for Sam and Tucker – who were wearing seatbelts – flew backwards. Including myself.

After getting up off the floor, I stomped off to the front again. "Tucker!" I whined. "What was that?"

"We have a welcome party," Tucker responded, motioning to the window. In front of the Specter Speeder were a dozen mutant ghostly animals, the ones that Vlad had created.

"I'll take care of that. You keep going to the mansion." I said. "Thermos, please." Sam tossed me the Fenton Thermos.

It only took several minutes to contain the creatures, and I was confused to find that they put up little resistance. But while I flew towards the mansion alone – the others were probably there by now – it hit me. The ghostly animals were just a distraction to keep me away from the rest of the group for as long as possible. Cursing myself for always falling into Vlad's traps, I flew at top speed until I saw the mansion looming in front of me. Once I landed on the ground, I spotted the Specter Speeder, and to my discomfort, I also noticed it was empty.

I rushed forward and phased through the door of Vlad's mansion. The first thing I heard was the sound of many things falling and breaking -- then, to my discomfort, I heard shouts and screams. Kicking off the ground, I flew forward, my legs merging into a ghostly tail.

When the hallway opened up into the living room, it was pandemonium. Curtains were leaping off of the walls and attacking my classmates; I spotted Paulina writhing on the ground in a cocoon of cloth. Rushing to help her, I tripped over a moving floor rug and crashed to the floor.

"Ow!" the rug growled. "Watch where you're going!"

Blinking, I did a double take. "Sam?" She was unrecognizable, entangled in the rug like a fly caught in a spider's web. I reached down and tugged at the rug, which was difficult, as the various tassels and fringes kept slapping me in the face.

"The gem of life!" I exclaimed after Sam was free.

Sam glared at me. "No kidding, genius! You didn't tell us that the thing Vlad stole from you was the Reality Gauntlet! How were we supposed to be prepared for _that_?"

Oops. "I was too caught up in thinking of Clone Danny that I forgot to mention it," I mumbled apologetically.

She scoffed. "That's an important detail to forget!"

As I was about to blunderingly defend myself, I felt something collide with the back of my head and shatter. Looking down, I saw the remains of a vase on the floor, and looking up, I saw Clone Danny hovering above me, whistling.

"Oops, it slipped out of my hand," he sneered.

Suddenly, I had an idea as to how to distract him. Pretending to be frustrated, I jumped into the air to face him, shimmering with ghost energy he was too cocky to notice. "You're the biggest idiot known to man – or ghost – kind!"

"Thank you," the clone said, bowing mockingly. "I take that as a compliment, coming from _you_."

"Don't look behind you," I said seriously.

He sighed. "Do you really think I'll fall for that one? Idiot."

"Duck!" I screeched, laughing, and crouched low to the floor.

"What?" Finally, the clone turned around to see a duplicate of me standing behind him, pointing the Fenton Thermos at his head.

"Nice knowing me!" the duplicate said, although it was really me saying it while controlling the duplicate like a puppet. Then he pressed the button.

Clone Danny gave a started yell as he was sucked into the Thermos, his features distorted. I was barely low enough to the ground to miss the blast of the beam, but it had worked. My duplicate tossed the Thermos to me, and I caught it while watching as the duplicate faded away.

"Wow, that seemed almost too easy!" Sam said, patting me on the back.

She just _had_ to say that, didn't she?


	25. Chapter 25

It was the last moment of triumph I had before someone grabbed my leg from under the floor and threw me, hard, towards the ceiling of the mansion. I had barely enough time to go intangible before I flew into the open air, feeling discombobulated. Looking back, I saw that my classmates were streaming out of the door of the mansion, watching me and gaping.

Without warning, Vlad materialized in front of me, and I saw with some anxiousness that he was wearing the gauntlet.  
"Watch out," he said silkily, pointing the device at me. It was glowing blue.

_The Gem of Fantasy,_ I thought to myself. _What's he playing at?_

The answer came when a jolt of energy coursed through me, and I cried out, falling slightly in the air before Vlad caught me by one leg.

"You're nothing more than human," he said simply, and he wasn't smiling. Clearly he didn't feel in the mood for chit-chat after I had outwitted his cocky clone son. With a grim expression, he threw me against the wall of his mansion.

I tried to go intangible, but Vlad hadn't been lying about having taken away my ghost half. Squinting, I gave a sharp intake of breath as I slammed painfully into the wall, my neck bending backwards so far that I could hear it pop a couple of times.

_That's gonna hurt later,_ I thought a little hazily, before I dropped to the ground.

My friends were all over me.

"Danny!" Jazz fretted. "Are you okay? What did he do? Your face is bleeding again!"

It took me a few moments to process that statement. "Ehh…I'm human now. Yay. I'm okay I guess, if you don't count the fact that I think I just dislocated my neck and my sanity. And I don't care if my face is bleeding. Being slammed into the ground can do that to a person."

"What should we do now?" Valerie growled impatiently, trying not to show she was concerned. "By the way, I forgive you. For now."

I shrugged nonchalantly, hiding the warm feeling inside me. "Maybe the effect of the gauntlet is only temporary? I'm going - !"

"Nowhere," Vlad interrupted, landing on the ground next to me. "You're completely and utterly human; can't you get that straight in your foolish adolescent head? Now hand over the Thermos, and I'll give you the reality gauntlet. Fair and square."

"No you won't," I said desperately. "I know you won't."

Vlad reached down and slapped my face. I put my hand to my face, which was smarting now.

"You're just being childish now," I said, and got the satisfaction of watching his face contort into an angry expression.

"You're not going to lecture me about what I do!" he said, raising his hand again.

My classmates held their breath.

"Okay, fine!" I said, smiling to myself. "I'll give your clone back. But let me warn you; you might not like what you see…."

"Just release the clone!"

"Fine," I said, pressing the release button on the Thermos.


	26. Chapter 26

Jazz gasped. "You're giving in?!"

I smiled. "Sort of."

Vlad was splattered in the face by a bunch of ecto-goo.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" He roared at my face. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY CLONE?"

"Well," I said calmly. "My ghostly DNA doesn't exist anymore, thanks to you. Therefore, neither does the vital glue that kept your clone from falling apart. So it fell apart." It had been a risky theory on my part, but it had worked. I reminded to thank Sam later for forcing me to read the book that Freakshow had written about the reality gauntlet – if I hadn't, I wouldn't have had any idea what to do.

Although this was probably a very rough paraphrasing, because I was never very good at reading textbooks in school, the book had said that the Gem of Fantasy worked in a very specific way. It could alter the DNA or scientific laws of anything or anyone, but those new rules would then apply to anything with the old rules. For example, because Vlad had wiped out my ghost half, his clone had been destabilized, because the DNA it relied on had been wiped out in me. Confusing and convoluted, sure… but it had worked.

And I was feeling pretty good about myself.

If Vlad's ears could have been steaming and still been within scientific law, they would have been. "How DARE you? I've been working on that project for MONTHS!"

"Hey, it's _your_ fault!" I sneered.

"Perhaps if I were to revert you to your ghostly self, the DNA would revert back to its proper form!" Vlad said, pointing the gauntlet at me.

"Uh oh," I said with fake nervousness, but in my head, I was thinking, _Your anger is blinding your common sense, you old fool!_

I felt my powers surge back to me. "You're a royal idiot!" I mocked. "Of course the clone wasn't going to reform! It's dead! A pile of goo! Sure, it's a pile of goo with my DNA…but what, did you think it was just going to reincarnate? Anyway, thanks for my powers back. Maybe I couldn't beat my clone in a fight, but I can sure beat you!"

Vlad was fuming – no, even fuming was an understatement. "I still have the gauntlet!"

"Yes, and I still have my common sense!" I shot back.

Blinded with anger, he threw a punch at me, which I deftly dodged by stepping to the side. "What's the matter?" I taunted. "Do you have no _game_?" I finally felt confident, as if I had a chance. Danny Phantom was back in control, and he was proud of it!

"I can still take your ghost powers away again!" Vlad yelled, raising the gauntlet.

In response, I kicked him in the stomach, and he staggered backwards before could activate the Gem of Fantasy. In his one moment of weakness, I tugged at the gauntlet on his right hand. He was right – it _was_ way too small for him, because it was made for my skinny arm. With my free foot, I tripped him, and he fell on his face, giving me the opportunity to yank the gauntlet off and slip it onto my own hand.

"Guess what, _V-man?_" I asked triumphantly. "You just lost!"


	27. Chapter 27

I pointed the gauntlet at Vlad, activating the Gem of Fantasy. "You don't remember the past few months or any of my embarrassment and humiliation I suffered." Vlad sank to the ground, dazed by the power of the gauntlet.

"What?" Dash cocked his head confusedly.

"Neither do you!" I said, pointing the gauntlet at him. "In fact…" I raised my hand to the sky, and shouted, "Nobody remembers I'm half ghost!"

A pale blue light flashed out of my hand and engulfed the sky. "Oh, and it's still summer vacation! No one remembers any of this!"

Then there was a flash of white light, and what seemed like an impenetrable fog.

***

When the "fog" cleared, Sam, Tucker, and I were standing in front of FentonWorks, and it was a bright, sunny afternoon.

"Wow," Sam breathed. "You kicked butt."

"Thank you," I bowed. "But I need to shatter these infernal things now," I said, pointing to the Reality Gems.

With a flourish, I yanked them out of their specified places.

"The Gem of Life!" I threw it into the air and shattered it with a ghost ray. "The Gem of Form! The Gem of Fantasy!" And then, "The power source!" The triangular gem was shattered, and with it, the invincibility of the reality gauntlet. Then I hugged Sam and Tucker, smiling with relief.

"What are you going to do with the case?" Tucker inquired.

"I'll keep it," I said, shrugging. "It's neat-looking, powerless, and plus it has my D insignia on it. Vlad tried to blast that off – " I pointed to the scorch marks on the metal glove – "But it didn't work."

Laughing, my two best friends and I walked into my house.

My mom greeted us. "Heya, kids! Would you like some iced tea?"

"Sure, Mrs. F!" Tucker said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Oh, Danny?" my mom inquired, looking concerned. "What happened to your face?"  
"I'm fine," I assured her.

"By the way," she continued a little more seriously, "Don't bother your father right now. He's working on a new ghost weapon that will help him tear that _vicious_ Danny Phantom kid apart 'molecule-by-molecule.' Anyway, he's frustrated, so it'd be best not to bother him."

"Point taken," I said, glancing knowingly at Sam and Tucker, and we all burst out laughing at the same time.

"What's so funny?" my mom asked, smiling slightly.

"Inside joke," Sam grinned at me.

I smiled back, and realized that my neck was finally starting to hurt from the collision with Vlad's wall.

_Delayed reaction_, I thought mildly to myself, and sipped on the tea. "Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate it."

***

In his castle in the Ghost Zone, Clockwork smiled serenely. "The boy came through again, as always. As he will in the future. More than he knows."


	28. DISCLAIMER

I am aware that this story isn't the highest quality and that it makes a lot of random jumps. I started it when I was eleven, and wrote about ten to thirteen chapters before actually forming a plot. I finished the story finally last year, two years later, with some semblance of a plot, but it could have been a lot tighter.

I'm also aware I probably did some stupid things when writing the story. For example, I spelled Star's name wrong. I once knew someone with the name "Starr" spelled with two rs, so I assumed incorrectly that the Danny Phantom "Star" spelled her name the same way.

I apologize for any mistakes I might have made writing this, and feel free to point them out. However, I probably won't get around to correcting them, because this story is very old.

Thank you.

~Rabbit


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